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The subsolar point on a planet or a moon is the point at which its Sun is perceived to be directly overhead (at the zenith); [1] that is, where the Sun's rays strike the planet exactly perpendicular to its surface. The subsolar point occurs at the location on a planet or a moon where the Sun culminates at the location's zenith. This occurs at ...
On the graph, this makes the minima more acute than the maxima. Also, since perihelion and aphelion do not happen on the exact dates as the solstices, the maxima and minima are slightly asymmetrical. The rates of change before and after are not quite equal. Furthermore, Earth's subsolar point only occurs within the tropics.
A 2021 publication presents a method that uses a solar azimuth formula based on the subsolar point and the atan2 function, as defined in Fortran 90, that gives an unambiguous solution without the need for circumstantial treatment. [7] The subsolar point is the point on the surface of the Earth where the Sun is overhead.
When this occurs at a given location, the location is Earth's subsolar point. A zero shadow day occurs twice a year for locations in the tropics (between the Tropic of Cancer at approximate latitude 23.4° N and the Tropic of Capricorn at approximately 23.4° S) when the Sun's declination becomes equal to the latitude of the location, so that ...
Afternoon analemma photo taken in 1998–99 in Murray Hill, New Jersey, U.S., by Jack Fishburn.The Bell Laboratories building is in the foreground. In astronomy, an analemma (/ ˌ æ n ə ˈ l ɛ m ə /; from Ancient Greek ἀνάλημμα (analēmma) 'support') [a] is a diagram showing the position of the Sun in the sky as seen from a fixed location on Earth at the same mean solar time over ...
While the formula can be derived by applying the cosine law to the zenith-pole-Sun spherical triangle, the spherical trigonometry is a relatively esoteric subject.. By introducing the coordinates of the subsolar point and using vector analysis, the formula can be obtained straightforward without incurring the use of spherical trigonometry.
World map showing the Tropic of Capricorn Relationship of Earth's axial tilt (ε) to the tropical and polar circles. The Tropic of Capricorn (or the Southern Tropic) is the circle of latitude that contains the subsolar point at the December (or southern) solstice. It is thus the southernmost latitude where the Sun can be seen directly overhead.
Approximate subsolar point dates vs. latitude superimposed on a world map, the example in blue denoting Lahaina Noon in Honolulu. Template documentation This template displays a graph showing the where Earth's subsolar point relative to the date.